It is almost March.

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary since all of us moved daily lives into our homes to ride out one of the most challenging times of our lives. A YEAR. A full revolution around the sun in this madness. Harken back to the end of 2019 – who could have seen us here? Where we are now, and how quickly we all have adapted, as both individuals and communities, both professional and personal, to a world we could not have even begun to imagine ourselves in.

I remember last March 17^th, I was getting ready to head out of town for a family member’s wedding in NY. In the end, the flight and event were both canceled. A few days later, our offices at the JCC closed up as well. I picked up a few things from my desk, took what I thought I needed home with me, thinking we’d be back in a few weeks, or would be moving down to camp for the summer.

I don’t know if it was hubris, or was just being hopeful, but uh, clearly, in hindsight: completely incorrect. This has been a journey – and it’s not even over yet.

For the first time in almost 25 years of my life, camp wasn’t a part of my summer. I spent the majority of my life at camp: as a camper starting at the age of seven (I became a staff member at 13) through my time today, as a camp director. The loss of this camp connection has had a widespread and far-reaching impact: Milestones were missed; memories that should have been, weren’t made; international and domestic flights and friendships, were all grounded. Trailheads, buses, benches, and cabins were empty. There were no GaGa tournaments, no songs on Shabbat, no screams of ‘delight’ from the zip line. Ranch Camp was completely closed. And, while there’s much to grieve for, there is excitement in the light that is coming.

I’m sure my excitement for this upcoming summer is shared with many of you: campers, parents, staff, alumni, vendors – all impacted by the loss of camp in 2020. We are only a few months away from reconnecting with each other, disconnecting from the screens, and rekindling the friendships that have been relegated to Zoom parties and limited interaction. I could not be happier to be back outdoors enjoying time spent with campers, and it is with both honor and an eager joy, that I get to do that for our community.

We’re counting down the days to what will be an unforgettable summer, though in some ways it will be very different than other Ranch Camp summers. Operations and the way we move through camp will have to change: Meals, climbing, art, etc. – everything about our day will feel a touch different than it did year’s yore.

Even though many things will change in our daily camp lives, many things will stay the same! This is a home for everyone. Every. One. No matter who you are, or where you are from, Ranch Camp is still the place that sparks friendships, builds community, and provides campers with “challenge by choice” opportunities for new activities. Ranch Camp is still the place that will encourage those who walk through its gates to be the best versions of themselves, feeling comfortable and confident doing so.

Thank you, all, for the outpouring of positive support during the transitional period over the past months! This community continues to amaze and inspire me. We are working hard right now to create our safety plans and consider every scenario for this coming camp season. I cannot wait to get up to camp and give our campers and staff what we all need most – something familiar, something outdoors, something friendly, and something fun;  all encapsulated in time spent at Ranch Camp.

Excited to share our plans with you and can’t wait to see you at camp.

Looking forward to an amazing summer together!

Ryan

We are delighted to announce that Ryan Bocchino will be our new Ranch Camp Director!

Ryan joined the JCC Ranch Camp team in 2016 as the Ranch Camp Associate Director and started making an impact immediately. He has been instrumental in staff management and enhancing the overall camper experience which resulted in a 20% increase in customer-surveyed performance metrics. In addition to the impact he had on our staff and campers, he has been just as important behind the scenes, assisting with budget management and fundraising efforts to ensure our camp is set-up for future success.

Most recently, Ryan helped design and manage the construction of the new ropes course, climbing tower, and zip line. Ryan describes himself as a lifelong educator, an outdoor enthusiast, and a gardener extraordinaire. Before Ranch Camp, Ryan served as the Program Manager at Green Chimney’s Children Services, an identified-need student residential and day school located in New York. Ryan’s enthusiasm is uplifting and engaging, and his big personality and laughter is a magnet for kids of any age.

In addition to this announcement, we are pleased to let you know that Courtney Jacobson has been promoted to the General Manager of Camps and the Early Learning School (ELS). This is a new role within the JCC organization which will oversee the ELS, Camp Shai, and Ranch Camp teams. Courtney will work hand-in-hand with Ryan to provide the organizational support needed to run an amazing residential camp experience for your children. She will also focus on creating a seamless experience for our young families as your children grow within the J – from preschoolers to campers.

Courtney joined the JCC four years ago as the Director of Camp Shai & Youth Programs. In August of 2020, Courtney took on the additional role of Interim Director of the Early Learning School which included implementing COVID precautions during an unprecedented school year. Courtney is dedicated to building relationships with her teammates and families to ensure only the highest quality of customer service.  She also has extensive knowledge of Colorado State Licensing for Childcare Programs and American Camping Association Standards. Courtney was a Ranch Camp camper herself and also served as a counselor for several years, so needless to say she is excited about the opportunity to oversee the Ranch Camp team.

The search for a Ranch Camp Assistant Director is currently in progress. We are not taking this search lightly, and are looking for the perfect candidate that meets the needs of our organization and our very special and amazing Ranch Camp community.

If the question of the day was, ‘If not now, when?’, the answer is, now.

If the theme of the day was to ‘Defy your limits and define yourself,’ the defying and the defining have both begun.

After a few years on the architect’s table and a few months in construction, we are thrilled to announce that our brand new ropes course has arrived! After so many months of viewing this dream on paper, in 3D rendering software, and discussing it with our builders, at long last, the work is complete.

Our new, continuous-belay ropes course, climbing wall, and dueling zip lines, have been installed, signed and sealed by the state, and are ready to rock for Summer 2021!

We are very excited to share that the course is accessible to all ages. All of the elements were built in a way that allows each of them to be modified and adjusted to youth of differing ages and ability. Whether you want to soar to new heights down the zip line (at a solid 30 miles per hour for over 200 yards) or are excited to learn how to repel off the block of the tower – this is the new place at camp to challenge yourself and embark on exhilarating adventures.

Not to mention – unlike the old course – these new adventures will happen in the “Inner 40”, in the main part of camp. No major schlep to get to the ropes course. You can even see right into the pool from the top of the tower. In fact, you can actually see all the way into the riding arenas, because the tower tops out at just under forty-five feet! And, when you soar down the zip line next to your best friend, you can see the iconic gate at the front of camp.

One of the exciting new features on this course is the static belay system – this is where the participant is connected directly into the course. Instead of staff being on the ground, they will be in the air right alongside the campers to assist and encourage them as they defy their limits up in the air.

Safety has come a long way since the old days of “Don’t disconnect the red clip unless the blue clip is attached!” The participants now clip in using Smart Snap devices; participants cannot unclip themselves without the key of a staff member. They will be able to do a full lap of the course while staying clipped in the whole time. There’s a training area on the ground to help familiarize them with the equipment so they can feel as secure as possible before going up the course to adventure.

We will also be transitioning to the use of full body harnesses for all participants at height – as secure as secure can be. This lets us do some neat elements, like climbing a horizontal climbing wall, or going across on a surfboard. It is going to be some serious mind over matter – very much so looking forward to sharing it with our campers this summer.

Lastly, a big thank you from our team, our ropes course staff, and our entire camp community, to the folks at the Sturm Family and Realty Management Group, for making this dream of ours a reality. We are looking forward to the dream being realized when we get kids up in the air and onto the course.

We are so excited to see you all at camp this summer so that we can soar to new heights together.

Climb on, friends.

It seems safe to say that the past nine months have been nothing like we imagined when we started 2020. We have adopted new buzzwords… unprecedented, pivoting, uncertain times. Our work and school vernacular now include phrases like  “Can you see my screen?” or “You’re muted, we can’t hear you”.  We have completely reimagined ways to live our day-to-day lives. Some of these adjustments are convenient, like doing curbside pickup instead of shopping in the store. But, a lot of these adjustments cause hardship because we’re more isolated and we are learning and working in a way that limits real life connection.

So, how do we do it? What has sustained us through these “unprecedented times” so far?

We all have our different motivators. One consistent motivator that we have seen as we’ve talked with families, campers, and our summer staff is hope. We have been sustained by hope. Hope that we will make it through this time. Hope that what we are doing is enough to keep ourselves and others safe. Hope that the world we are re-building is better than the world we left behind. Hope that camp will look and feel as normal as possible beyond this.

In October, the Ranch Camp team had the opportunity to attend the virtual JCamp180 Conference. It gave us a chance to connect with peers in the field, learn about and build best practices for running camp during a pandemic, and to reignite our spark as we dive into Summer 2021. During one of the sessions, a presenter touched on the same thing we had been seeing in our Ranch Camp world, hope. He said, “Hope is a radical act.”

That was it… “Hope is a radical act.” It so perfectly encapsulates how these nine months have felt. After a quick google search during the session, we found the whole quote that this presenter was referencing…

“Sometimes hope is a radical act, sometimes a quietly merciful response, sometimes a second wind, or just an increased awareness of goodness and beauty. Maybe you didn’t get what you prayed for, but what you got instead was waking to the momentousness of life, the power of loving hearts.”

– Anne Lamott

Anne Lamott, an American novelist, is certainly on to something. It is almost as if her take on hope was written for this time. I think most of us could agree that this year isn’t quite what we prayed for. Sitting with and thinking about this quote since the conference, we have realized that hope as a radical act is intrinsically Jewish. In Judaism hope is often the sustainer and the driver.

We see it in our camp middot (values).  One of our most important middot at camp is Shomrei Ha’Adamah, being Guardians of the Earth. Each summer we work with our campers to learn how to take care of the world and make it a better place for everyone. We hope the work we are doing is making difference and the hope that it is making a difference is also what motivates us to keep doing it.

Hope might be sustaining us right now, but is so radical in this time. In the middle of pandemic, it is an active choice each day to continue our hard work and wake our eyes to “the momentousness of life [and] the power of loving hearts.” Our Ranch Camp community makes this easy though. You have shared your hearts and your hope with us and each other. You have given us your trust in preparing for next summer working to make it equal parts safe and magical for your campers. We don’t take your hope lightly. It is sacred to us. It is truly our sustainer and our driver as we work towards next summer. Thank you for being our partners. We are so excited for Summer 2021, which will be the BEST. SUMMER. EVER.

 

L’Shalom,

Carly, Ryan, and Noah

Evie (Rosenbaum) Cohen & Morey Cohen

Years at Camp: Evie – 1953 & 1961 & Morey 1953-1964

Evie – I was a camper in ’53 and ’61.
Morey – I was a camper from ’53-’58, was a counselor and wrangler from ’59-’63.

What is your favorite memory from camp?

Evie – My favorite memory from camp was meeting my boyfriend, Morey!
Morey – My favorite memory was rodeo trick riding on Niven sports field.

What is one thing you learned from camp that you still use in your daily life?

Evie – One thing I learned from camp was patience.
Morey – One thing I learned from camp was to be a teacher and role model.

Who are some of your favorite people you were at camp with?

Evie – Abe Wagner was my favorite person at camp!
Morey – Abe Wagner and Herm Markowitz were my favorite people at camp!

 

Rachel Trout

Years at Camp: 2008 – 2020

I was a camper for years, J-Staff, Sports specialist, Programmer, and the EMT. 2020 is my Club 13 year!

What is your favorite memory from camp?

One summer, when Gina McReynolds was still a counselor, she led a hiking chug (or something similar). There were a few campers and staff members signed up for it. Once we started the hike, Gina and I got separated from the group. We searched for the group for a bit and then found ourselves somewhere in the Outer 400 that Gina had never seen before (which was shocking because Gina knows all the nooks and crannies of camp). We walked around and realized that we were at the cliff that overlooks the maintenance yard. It was so beautiful. We spent a little time hanging out up there before going back down into camp. Every year since, we have gone on a hike to that special spot that we now call Narnia. It’s our special place at camp. Looking back, we have no idea how we lost the whole group, but we’re grateful we found Narnia together.

What is one thing you learned from camp that you still use in your daily life?

As a staff member I have learned the concept of adaptability, of being in a situation and having to adjust. Like when a thunder storm comes out of no where and you have to change the evening program on the spot. It’s not helpful to get mad or upset, you have to be flexible, find something that works, and make it be the best it can be for everyone. It’s a great life skill that I use all of the time.

Who are some of your favorite people you were at camp with?

It’s hard to choose because I have been at camp for so long. I am still close to many of my former campers. I remember Maisie Salinger, Carly Coons, and Adrienne Razavi as my counselors. I absolutely loved getting to work with Abe Mamet as programmer. I admired how he balanced being a friend and a supervisor, such an impressive and helpful skill. He has had such a big impact on my time at Ranch Camp.

We know that our campers, staff, and families alike count down the months, days, and minutes until the start of Ranch Camp each summer. In Judaism we constantly lean on text to help us navigate moments of grief and explore feelings of uncertainty, to offer us clarity when we cannot see and to embrace us in the warmth of a hug when we cannot touch. This piece, by Jamie Anderson, so beautifully captures our heartache:

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”

JCC Ranch Camp is more than just a summer camp. It is a community and a home away from home, where so many are able to be their best selves, connect to nature, develop deep friendships, and explore Judaism. Our top priority summer after summer is the physical, emotional, and spiritual safety of everyone who comes through our gates. Without meeting this basic need, none of the magic that fills every moment at camp can happen.

With a heavy heart and a clear mind, we made the very difficult decision to cancel our 2020 season to ensure the safety of our community. The CDC Guidelines and the local Health Department requirements make our normal camp experience nearly impossible. 

If we have learned anything during this new reality that we are living in, it is that flexibility is the key to making it through the day to day. Fortunately, we are camp people, and flexibility is at the core of the work we do. When we made the decision to cancel our regular summer season, we stretched and put together the plans for Family Camp which we felt would give the connection to the things we are all craving right now: camp, nature, Judaism, and most of all, each other.

We have continued to follow along with the updated and ever changing guidance of the CDC, the American Camping Association, and the local, state, federal government. With our most up-to-date information, we made the heartbreaking decision to not run Family Camp this summer.

In light of our new reality, we were excited to introduce Ranch Camp 2020 Virtual Connections, a virtual experience for campers that will take place in July! 

We have been working tirelessly to concentrate the essence and magic of Ranch Camp into short programs with small groups of campers.The goal of Virtual Connections is to help campers connect to their peers in their unit and to participate in special unit programming so that they feel as if they were truly with us this summer. Virtual Connections is open to campers that were registered for the 2020 season and is free of charge to families. Our trained Ranch Camp staff will be leading these programs. These staff are trained to work with children and specifically have been trained to safely lead programs in online spaces.

While we can’t be together in the way we had planned this summer, there will always be a way for us to share our love for one another. We are very much looking forward to connecting with our campers in this new way until we’re all back together under our bluest skies. Ranch Camp isn’t the cabins we sleep in or the walls we sign. It is the people who make us feel seen, loved, whole, and safe. This is what creates the Ranch Camp magic and we know it reaches so much farther than our 400 acres.

 

Noah Gallagher | JCC Ranch Camp Director
Ryan Bocchino | JCC Ranch Camp Associate Director
Carly Coons | JCC Ranch Camp Assistant Director

Shortly after I started as Director of Ranch Camp, I fell in love. I was totally committed. I was building a program and a camp with my own children in mind, knowing that they would soon be old enough to experience camp as campers. I was wrong, but I was wrong in the best possible way.

My oldest are 6 year-old twins, Daphne and Leo. My youngest, Tess, is nearly 3 years old. This will be her fourth summer at Ranch Camp. It will be the twins’ 5th summer at Ranch Camp, and their seventh summer affectionately known as “staff brats” (or, more lovingly, as “mascots”). As Daphne’s picture indicates (check out that beautiful picture at the bottom of this post), she might want to go right from staff kid to staff member!

The twins will be attending the Baktanna session in August. They are not exactly excited about the prospect of living in a bunk. They are, however, really excited to be back at camp. It is their favorite time of year and the thing they know to be certain about their summer.

As I took time to contemplate the lack of enthusiasm, I understand that my kids’ apprehension is not just the difference between a bed in our house at Ranch Camp and a bunk bed in a camp cabin. I can only imagine how apprehensive they are about the shift in perspective they are about to experience. It is as true for many of you as it is for my family: Ranch Camp is so much more than a summer program.

During any given week, outside of the summer season, the majority of the guests my family receives in our home, or visits, are connected to us through Ranch Camp. Those with whom we are most close are connected to us through Ranch Camp. The people I trust the most with my children are Ranch Camp folk. I have, recently, come to realize that we are not alone.  Over the past four years, Ranch Camp has become our community and our family.

At their most basic, summer camps are service and program providers. Ranch Camp is so much more than that. We are a community institution. We create and nurture community in Colorado and beyond. Though I have believed this for quite a while, I am, right now, for the first time, seeing it through the eyes of my children.

Daphne and Leo’s apprehension is not about sleeping in a bunk. It isn’t about being “away” from their parents. They are anxious about a compromise in their connection to their summer home. They cannot articulate this right now, but, by the time they are able to do so, their connections to staff members will be replaced with the kind of indelible connections one makes with peers during summers at camp. It will be different, it will be weird, and it will be awesome. I am so looking forward to continue watching my children grow up with your kids.

If we are doing it well, if we are doing it right, we (you, me, all of us!) are building more than a camp program. We are building a community. In doing so, we are showing our children what the world might look like. Thank you for being my partners; I cannot express just how excited I am to see our kids grow up together, and build a community that is an example to the entire world.

 

L’Shalom,

Noah Gallagher | JCC Ranch Camp Director

I spent most of my formative years at summer camp, with some pretty formative people, in some pretty formative places. Camp gave me the power to be creative, think independently, and defy my own limits. Many of my favorite stories are from camp. A particular favorite of mine involves a canoe and canned meat. If you were thinking that was all I was going to say about this story, I am sorry, there’s more.

Turn back the clock to 2002. Picture upstate New York, crank the humidity, in mid-July (crank it a little more), on a two-week whitewater canoeing and backpacking expedition in the Adirondacks. I’m with friends that I’ve spent most of my life with, my boat crew, Pete and Justin.

We spent our days canoeing, our nights on land, and we portaged every few days to jump rivers. Our staff entrusted us with a lot of responsibility, even as teenagers. We were responsible for making sure all of our equipment was in each night and stored properly. It was the early 2000s, so there wasn’t a lot of oversight. Our staff didn’t really check on the status of the gear and whether or not the appropriate steps were taken to secure it.

How were we supposed to secure the gear in the boat? Simple. There was a heavy-duty dry-bag with all our clothing in the bow and a hard case of foodstuffs secured in the back. In a moment of genius, one of us (you can guess who) struggled to fit the canned meats into the hard case of foodstuffs and decided to “secure” the cans by putting them in a plastic grocery bag and placing it underneath the case. Again, no one checked my work and we didn’t need to access this case of food until later in the trip.

After a week on and off the water, we transitioned to the backpacking portion of the trip. We began the tedious process of breaking down our boats and switching out gear. Pete was responsible for carrying the food while backpacking; he grabbed the food from the case and the grocery bag with the canned meat underneath, not thinking twice about the plastic bag being completely filled with water. He drained he water and tossed the bag in with the rest of the food.

We were nearing the last part of our hike and the food that Pete carried was the remaining food for the trip. Keep in mind, this is all the food the group has left. Pete unpacked his bag and reached in for the magical concoction now brewing in the case. He gently places the case on the ground. The buckle on the side of the container is opened. He lifts the lid. Cue: IMMEDIATE REGRET.

The meat canisters have exploded and their foul stench cascades out, and it is clear that the explosion has ruined just about everything in the case. Tortillas? Destroyed. Cereal? Soggy. It is a disaster.

Enter pure teenage rage. Our group loses their collective minds. Tears were shed. A fist was thrown. Words were screamed. Our counselors calm the group as the reality of the situation sets in. Our staff member, Josh, quietly asked how the cans got in this condition in the first place.

In fear of both being left out by the rest of the group and getting in trouble, I am quiet and don’t say I word. I think to myself, “Not me, I’m not getting caught in this right now.” In the end, everyone assumes it was an accident, even though our storage container was waterproof.

Fast-forward two days of solely eating pasta, we begin hiking back down to our bus. About halfway down, Pete casually brings up that the bag of canned meat was not in the food case, but rather underneath it. Knowing full well who was responsible for our canoe’s packout, I make darted eye contact with Josh who gives me the ‘I know’ eyes. At this point, I have started to fully freak out, wondering if I am going to have no friends after this trip.

When we get back down to the bus, the unthinkable happens. A camper on our trip comes up to me and apologizes for ignoring me the past two days. I hadn’t really noticed because we weren’t friends. After two other campers approach me to apologize in a similar fashion, it became obvious that people knew I mismanaged the packout. As it turns out, everyone saw me struggling with packing and did not stop to offer help because they were so focused on their own tasks. I didn’t say a word the whole ride home, which is incredibly rare now, and even more so then.

When we got back to camp, Josh pulled me aside to talk to me. I was prepared for a stern tongue-lashing, but what came was a lesson that has stayed with me to this day. Josh told me that you can always rely on your friends to notice the best and worst things you do. He said to never hide behind your mistakes and own them in front of your peers, and you’ll never feel ashamed in your life. What he also shared was that anyone could have offered to help. We were a team, and even though everyone had their own tasks to focus on, we were responsible to each other. Therefore, all were responsible when the canned meats were tucked behind the case

Ranch Camp’s supervision and standards are certainly ahead of where my camp was two decades ago. So is our intentional focus on responsibility, or acharayut, one of our core values. As a community, in camp or on a trip, we are responsible to and for each other, a lesson I learned thanks to a few cans of meat.

With that said, not everyone in the group knew that I was responsible, and this may be how they find out… Sorry!

 

L’Shalom

Ryan Bocchino | JCC Ranch Camp Associate Director

The new year offers us an opportunity to pause. To recollect ourselves after school breaks, holiday dinners, crazy schedules, and many sugar comas. It gives us a moment to take a breath and set our intentions for the year. Sometimes this looks like resolutions, commitments to ourselves, or a reframing as we start a new year. We have a chance built into the year (two actually with the Jewish new year) to challenge ourselves. To set our sights on something unfamiliar or reacquaint ourselves with something that fuels us.

While many of campers return summer after summer, it is almost as if everyone who walks through our gates has the chance to start as new camper. Whether it is your child’s first time at overnight camp or they are starting their last summer as camper with us, every camper is starting their “new year” at camp. They are setting their intentions for the year. Perhaps it is the year they are going to finally try the rock wall or maybe they are challenging themselves to branch out and make new friends. Every camper has the opportunity to bring whatever they have worked on over the past year and shine as the truest version of themselves at camp.

Just as our campers set their intentions for the summer, our camp parents do it too. Every day you watch your kids grow, leap, fall, and get back up. You witness and celebrate their successes and work with them through their challenges. You know the small things about them – what phrases build them up and what actions trigger them. And then for anywhere between four and twenty-five days, you send them to us, where your vision is limited to the photos we post online and the phone calls you get from camp. So sending your campers to Ranch Camp is more than just choosing a camp where your kids will spend part of their summer. You are setting your intentions for your year, yourself, and your child. You are trusting that your child will have what they need to be successful within themselves and that what they need external support with they will find in the people that surround them at camp. And whether it is your child’s first summer or last summer as a camper, we know that this takes a lot of energy and courage from you.

At the end of this past summer, one of our first time camper parents wrote us to tell us about her children’s experience at camp, but even more so her own experience.

She writes, “[Both of my children] had varying levels of anxiety – friend making, bed wetting, sleeping away from us for the first time – and although I did everything I possibly could to support and prepare them, there were still a lot of jitters at the bus drop off. We were greeted by the amazing teen camp staff. My sons both had the same cabin counselors for their respective weeks at camp, and the moment I met these young men, I knew my boys had nothing to worry about. They approached my children with compassion and kindness that was a complete joy to watch. Each asked me thoughtful questions about each child’s strengths and weaknesses and any hesitations they had regarding camp. I know these are all things they learned in counselor training, but the genuine interest in my family and such thoughtful communication cannot be learned in a crash course on how to run a cabin. I drove away with tears in my eyes and a new faith in humanity.”

In less than six months, we will be back in our small corner of the Black Forest, preparing for the amazing children that you will share with us this summer. Looking towards this, the Ranch Camp team has set our intentions for 2020. We are working to get to know your children before they come to camp, to learn about how their school year has affected and changed them. We are set on helping them grow as individuals; helping them to find strength they didn’t know they had. And we are excited to connect them to the 2020 Ranch Camp family. To help them find a place where they can give and receive what they need.

We thank you for having the courage it takes to share the most important part of your lives with us. We know that you will prepare your children to the best of your ability for camp this summer. And even with preparation there will still be jitters. So before we reach the summer, please feel free to call or email us so that we can get to know more about your family and your camper. Whether this is a new experience or your camper is returning to a place and community that fuels them, we would love to connect and learn more about your child in this new year.

 

L’Shalom,

Carly Coons | JCC Ranch Camp Assistant Director

Email: ccoons@jccdenver.org
Phone: 303.316.6384

2020 will be a big summer for Ranch Camp. For three nights this summer, my soon-to-be 6-year old twins will sleep in a cabin as campers. They will share that space with kids that grew up with them at the Early Learning School at JCC Denver and at Camp Shai. I cannot begin to express the joy I experience when people I know from the ELS and Camp Shai stop to tell me that they signed their kid up for Ranch Camp.

This year was a fantastic year for Ranch Camp. We received and implemented a two-million dollar gift from the Sturm family. Our survey results were proof positive that Ranch Camp stands among the very best Jewish camps in North America. Ranch Camp was open and utilized for more days outside of the camp season than any year on record. Above all, our community connected with each other in new ways, welcoming new and returning members, and creating a warm and safe space.

One of the most exciting major infrastructure improvements, made possible by the Sturm family gift, are two new communal bathrooms. These new bathrooms in each village offer an incredible upgrade to our current facilities, but even more so, they allow us to allocate housing to campers by age, rather than gender. While campers will still be in housed in cabins by their gender identification, they will now be surrounded by peers at the same development stage as them, allowing for more intential relationship building and stronger unit identity development.

We were ecstatic about the results from the Summer 2019 satisfaction survey which collects data on Jewish camps nationwide. Our results demonstrated continued improvement in almost every metric. It’s through our partnership with you and our community that we are able to create a successful space for every camper to feel at home. Some of our highlights were that campers really enjoyed the food, nearly all of you recommend your friends send their kids to Ranch Camp, and campers got to try every activity we wanted them to experience.

In addition to our amazing summer camp program, Ranch Camp is becoming a destination retreat spot for synagogues, youth groups, and family life cycle events. Our 2020 season is nearly booked, and Bar/Bat Mitzvah weekends are prioritized for 2021. We are investing resources in year-round campus accessibility, which is a benefit to our retreat and summer camp programs.

With that we’re closing out not only a year, but also a decade. A decade where new campers, staff, and community members have joined us. Where campers have become staff, and alumni have become camp parents. We redefined what it meant for us to be an inclusive community, working to make sure that everyone who walks through our gates knows that they are safe and a member of the Ranch Camp family. We worked to reinvest in our infrastructure, creating a beautiful partnership with the Sturm family and other incredible donors. This past year we reached new heights. This past decade we opened our gates and grew our community. Over the last 67 years we’ve built upon a rich history and path laid down by those before us and continue to aspire to the greatness that Ranch Camp can be as we look towards the next year, decade, and beyond.

I am excited to have my kids at Ranch Camp this summer and to join a community of which I am proud. Thank you for all of your support to help us continue to become the best we can be and for making us a community that prioritizes the health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone who walks through our gates. We are so grateful for our community.

 

Noah Gallagher | JCC Ranch Camp Director